NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8230A
SPONSOR: Paulin TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to authorizing a
prenatal and postpartum informational mobile application
PURPOSE::
Authorizes a prenatal and postpartum informational mobile application
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::
Section 1 directs the commissioner to contract with a platform provider.
for a New York specific, membership-based mobile application to be made
available to birthing individuals who are eligible for Medicaid,
Section 2. The effective date.
JUSTIFICATION::
The World Health Organization (WHO) data from 2000-2020 indicates that
maternal mortality rates in the United States are increasing while live
birth data has decreased. As health care government leaders work to
address the issues with these pregnancy outcomes, there have been
several states, including Michigan and Wyoming, that rely on technology
to connect with at-risk birthing individuals to provide greater access
to education and provider information and monitoring through a custom-
ized mobile application made available to Medicaid recipients. There are
a multitude of reasons that contribute to these poor maternal health
outcomes that include many women, especially in more rural areas with
the lack of access to obstetric care who may lack the awareness of heal-
thy prenatal and postpartum behaviors.
According to a report from the National Vital Statistic's Reports, over
32% of all pregnant women on Medicaid do not start care until the,second
trimester or later and may not be aware of necessary lifestyle changes
that should take place prior to conception as they continue to smoke, do
not take prenatal vitamins and miss routine obstetric and gynecological
visits. Additionally, "babies born to women with low health literacy had
a higher frequency of preterm birth before 34 weeks, small for gesta-
tional age status, low birth weight, and an Apgar score less than 4," as
reported by a researcher out of the Feinberg School of Medicine at
Northwestern University.
New York's women and families are faced with an ever-growing dearth in
maternity care, including the recent action to close a birthing hospital
in Troy, New York that serves many low-income individuals. These
actions make it more difficult for women to have access to critical
obstetric care. The introduction of a New York-based mobile application
for Medicaid recipients would be a positive step in aiding birthing
individuals in accessing critical prenatal and postpartum information.
As three out of'five maternal deaths in the U.S. are preventable accord-
ing to the CDC, increasing awareness of healthy prenatal and postpartum
behaviors will-increase the probability that mothers will have healthier
pregnancies and positive birth outcomes.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::
New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS::
There will be a cost to the state of approximately $2 million for the
procurement of a New York-tailored prenatal and postpartum mobile appli-
cation. Potential cost savings to be expected from the expansion of
important information to birthing individuals and a reduction in costly
medical emergencies for both birthing individuals and babies.
EFFECTIVE DATE::
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8230--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
November 6, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, McDONALD, REYES, SHIMSKY, LEVENBERG,
SIMONE, BURDICK, SEAWRIGHT, TAPIA, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, EPSTEIN -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Health -- recommitted to the
Committee on Health in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to authorizing a
prenatal and postpartum informational mobile application
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 365-k of the social services law is amended by
2 adding a new subdivision 3 to read as follows:
3 3. (a) The commissioner is authorized to contract with a platform
4 provider to provide a New York-tailored, membership-based mobile appli-
5 cation available to prenatal, pregnant and postpartum individuals who
6 are eligible for Medicaid following a competitive bidding process as set
7 forth in the state finance law. The department shall issue a request for
8 proposals no later than one hundred eighty days after the effective date
9 of this subdivision.
10 (b) The request for proposals shall include the following deliverables
11 and additional requirements as determined by the commissioner, in
12 consultation with the commissioner of mental health:
13 (i) the selected vendor shall deliver education, resources and support
14 to prenatal, pregnant and postpartum women and their families;
15 (ii) the selected vendor shall provide New York-specific information
16 on its mobile application, including links to the department of health
17 and other state agency programs and resources available to prenatal,
18 pregnant and postpartum women;
19 (iii) the selected vendor shall demonstrate a consistent workflow to
20 increase awareness of state agency programs and resources available to
21 users of the mobile application;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13141-04-4
A. 8230--A 2
1 (iv) the selected vendor shall enable the department of health and
2 other state agencies to ask specific questions to users of the mobile
3 application;
4 (v) the selected vendor shall enable the department of health to share
5 specific content and resources, as determined by the department, with
6 users of the mobile application;
7 (vi) the selected vendor shall include information and resources in
8 the mobile application that meet acceptable United States clinical stan-
9 dards, including standards defined by all of the following:
10 (A) The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
11 (B) The United States National Institutes of Health;
12 (C) The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists;
13 (D) The American Medical Association; and
14 (E) The American Academy of Pediatrics;
15 (vii) the selected vendor shall make its mobile application available
16 in multiple languages to provide access to as many users in the state as
17 possible;
18 (viii) the selected vendor shall regularly provide the department of
19 health, the speaker of the assembly, the minority leader of the assem-
20 bly, the temporary president of the senate, and the minority leader of
21 the senate with aggregate, deidentified data concerning the following:
22 (A) the number of users of the mobile application that are eligible
23 for Medicaid;
24 (B) the number of users of the mobile application that are engaging
25 with New York-specific content;
26 (C) the number of users of the mobile application seeking additional
27 information about enrollment in the Medicaid program or other available
28 resources;
29 (D) the number of monthly users of the mobile application;
30 (E) the number of daily users of the mobile application;
31 (F) the average length of time a user uses the mobile application; and
32 (G) any other information requested by the department of health or
33 other state agencies;
34 (ix) the selected vendor shall not share, sell, or otherwise process
35 users' personal information except as strictly necessary for the opera-
36 tion of the mobile application and shall not provide personally iden-
37 tifiable information about any user to the department of health, the
38 office for children and family services, or any other governmental enti-
39 ty; and
40 (x) the selected vendor shall make its mobile application available on
41 multiple mobile platforms.
42 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
